The state Senate has never been more exciting!

Control of the narrowly divided 63-seat chamber is up for grabs on Election Day, and a handful of races are toss ups and more are well positioned for an upset.

To breakdown the most important races the podcast turned to local reporters from Long Island, the Hudson Valley, central New York and the Capital Region for insights from the districts.

The conversations explore the local issues, outside spending, voting trends and the affect of the top of the ticket.

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Election Day is less than two weeks away and the fate of New York's most competitive congressional races is still a bit hazy.

To help bring some clarity to the campaigns, political data analyst Noah Rudnick joined the podcast to explain his election forecasting model and explore the underlying fundamentals in the hotly contested congressional seats, including the 19th Congressional District race between Republican incumbent John Faso and Democratic challenger Antonio Delgado.

The conversation explored the role campaign spending, past election results and demographics play in political prognostications, and Noah also shared his predictions for the House of Representatives elections in New York.

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David Carlucci, an original member of the state Senate's Independent Democratic Conference and one of two to survive the primary night purges, joined the podcast for a look back and forward.

The conversation examined the breakaway conference's founding and folding, his experience rejoining the Democratic fold and the potential for control of the chamber can flip.

Carlucci also offered advice for the likely new class of millennial senators, experiencing the opioid epidemic as a town official and the fate of controversial campaign funds.

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If 1992 was the "Year of the Woman," then 2018 is the "Year of Women."

Across the country a record number of women are pursuing elected office and New York is seeing the same trend, with more than 100 women running for state legislative races this year.

Two of those candidates, Michelle Ostrelich, a Democratic state Senate hopeful, and Mary Beth Walsh, a Republican member of the state Assembly, joined the podcast to talk about their only path in politics.

The conversations also explore the need for women in government, the disparity between female Democratic candidates and female Republican candidates, the role of outside groups supporting women's political aspirations and President Donald J. Trump.

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There is widespread support for victims of child sexual abuse, but a comprehensive bill to make it easier to hold offenders accountable in criminal and civil court has failed to become law in New York.

Gary Greenberg, a child sex abuse survivor, joined the podcast to talk about his advocacy for the Child Victims Act, which has been stymied by Senate Republicans.

He talked about the root of his activism, the failed attempt to reach a compromise, and the importance of civil actions against perpetrators of sexual abuse.

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Going into primary night this summer, Gareth Rhodes was coming on the strong in the race for the Democratic nomination in the 19th Congressional District.

He had picked up an endorsement from the New York Times and was rolling out support from major labor unions.

When the ballots were tallied, though, his 6,890 votes were only enough for third place.

The first-time candidate and veteran of the Cuomo administration joined the podcast to talk about his experience on the campaign trail in the Hudson Valley. The conversation explored the decision to run, what it took to start a campaign, the story behind his infamous RV and the secret of his toupee (it's not a toupee).

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Twenty years ago, Chuck Schumer was facing an uphill battle to get into the U.S. Senate.

Then a New York City congressman, he joined a crowded field pursuing the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent Republican Sen. Al D'Amato. Schumer handily won his primary and went on to win the senate seat by 10 points in November.

Howard Wolfson, the communications director for Schumer's 1998 race, joined the podcast to talk about how they came from behind in the primary against former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, played tough in the general and flipped the seat from red to blue.

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It wouldn't be New York if there wasn't a recurring controversy surrounding political contributions.

The current gubernatorial campaign has been marred by the federal probe into Crystal Run Healthcare, a politically influential Orange County firm that is responsible for $400,000 in contributions to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo re-election effort. 

Times Union reporter Chris Bragg has been tracking the developments in this ongoing saga, including the civil trial, federal subpoenas and role of a Hudson Valley congressman. He joined the show to expand on his reporting, explain the scope of the drama and contemplated where the story will go next.

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Suing the president, investigating police related homicides and leading multi-state actions against the federal government.

Today's state attorney general job is unrecognizable from the position four decades ago, with new powers and a broader scope of office assumed in the subsequent years. The post has been shaped and reshaped by the officeholders and the times we have lived through.

To shed light on the job, the Capitol Confidential podcast turned to former attorneys general Robert Abrams and Dennis Vacco. The former officeholders pealed back the curtain on their experiences, explained the different powers they exerted and reflected on how things have changed.

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Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon sparred over corruption, their tax disclosures and a handful of progressive issues during the lone Democratic gubernatorial debate on Wednesday.

The hour-long, one-on-one matchup at Hofstra University on Long Island was a contentious affair that often devolved into personal attacks, allegations of lying and canned one-liners. Nixon sought to score a knockout punch that would elevate her outsider campaign and Cuomo played defense from a position of strength in the polls. Both candidates expressed support, at least in principle, for a liberal wish list in New York that includes legalized marijuana, single-payer health and campaign finance reform.

Times Union columnist Chris Churchill joined the podcast to assess what the debate means for the race, weighed in on whether you're still a person if you filed taxes as a corporation and lamented the lack of love for upstate New York from the moderators.

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